advertised as fast, multi-mission vessels that can operate in shallow coastal waters and be a building block of the U.S. fleet — came under fire this past week from a government watchdog group and a San Diego County congressman.

On Monday, the Project on Government Oversight called on Congress to cancel one-half of the ship class, based on what it calls a history of design problems and equipment failure.

The Washington, D.C., watchdog group dispatched a letter to the Senate and House armed services committees that thrashes the LCS program. The first 16 littoral ships are scheduled to be assigned to San Diego. The second is slated to arrive next month.

The littoral program is split into two ship versions: The Freedom, a mono-hull variety designed by Lockheed Martin, and the Independence, an aluminum trimaran by General Dynamics and Austal USA.

The Project on Government Oversight’s “position has long been that only one of the LCS variants is necessary, and that the current dual-development is a corporate subsidy we can’t afford. As a result, we have recommended eliminating one variant to save taxpayer dollars. Now, based on the new evidence we have uncovered, we recommend that the more expensive and severely flawed Lockheed variant be eliminated,” the group’s letter said.

The Navy and Lockheed Martin counter that the design and equipment problems are old issues that already have been addressed.

“The Navy is reviewing the concerns mentioned in the letter, however, nearly all of these issues were well-reported and have been corrected as warranted. Additionally, the Navy has worked closely with the operational test and evaluation community to address their concerns. USS Freedom is a first-of-class ship, and it is expected the Navy will discover and correct issues as they are identified. This is not unique to LCS, but standard for all first-of-class ships. We are fully confident that LCS 1 and the rest of the class will perform as designed,” Christopher Johnson, a spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command, said in a response.

A Lockheed spokeswoman said it’s typical to work out problems in the first ship of a class.

“Any issue that has arisen in the development, testing and usage of this lead ship has been, or will be, addressed to ensure she and future Freedom-class ships meet or exceed the Navy’s needs,” Lockheed’s Dana Casey said.

On Thursday, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, asked the Navy secretary to give a full briefing on the littoral ship program to the House Armed Services Committee this year. Hunter, a critic of the new ship class, sits on the committee and on its sea power subcommittee.

He cited a need for more “transparency” about the littoral program. The sea power subcommittee agreed to add his request to the fiscal 2013 defense budget bill. It would require the secretary to appear within 30 days after the president signs the bill, expected to be late this year.

While not taking a position, the Congressional Research Service also chimed in with a report this month that lists eight issues for Congress to consider about the littoral program. They include questions about whether the littorals are formidable enough to survive in combat, hull cracking and corrosion seen in the first two ship versions and changes to the interchangeable mission “modules” that are supposed to make the littorals able to switch from an anti-mine capability to anti-submarine or ship-against-ship missions.

Both reports could get a public airing in Congress as early as Thursday, when the sea power subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee meets to mark up its portion of proposed defense budget.

The littoral ship has suffered a number of setbacks that have been well documented in the defense industry press. Also, Congress — especially Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Hunter — have questioned the program’s cost overruns and utility. The littoral program is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as the top troubled military spending programs.

The Project on Government Oversight’s letter said the group has obtained documents showing that Lockheed’s Freedom has at least 17 known cracks and repeated engine-related failures.

During the initial voyage from Mayport, Fla., to San Diego in 2010, there were more than 80 equipment failures on the ship, the group said in its letter. During one, in March 2010, while the ship was performing drug seizures off South America, the Freedom’s electricity went out, leaving the ship dark.

The watchdog group also said that before and during the ship’s second set of rough water trials in February 2011, 17 cracks were found on the ship. The result of the cracking is water leaks, which dampen one of the ship’s chief selling points: its ability to go fast, up to 40 knots.

The group’s report concludes that the cracking program has turned the Navy’s “cheetah of the seas” into a clunker that only goes freighter speeds.